I reviewed the last 20 seasons (2000 - 2019) of ACC play to determine who does better in the NCAA tournament...the regular season champion or the conference tournament champion.

The same team won both the ACC regular season and conference tournament in half of the 20 years (2000, 01, 06, 07, 08, 10, 13, 14, 16 and 18). Twice this ACC team also won the NCAA tournament (both times Duke, in 2001 and 2010).

In the other 10 years, the regular season champion advanced further than the conference tournament champion eight times (2002, 04, 05, 09, 11, 12, 17 and 19). Regular season champs who lost in the ACC tournament, bounced back to win the national title five times (Maryland in 2002, UNC in 05, 09 & 17, and UVA in 2019). Only twice did the ACC tournament champ outperform the regular season champ during the NCAA tournament (in 2015, ND made the Elite Eight while UVA choked vs the Spartans in the 2nd round; and in 2003, Duke went one extra round than Wake). An ACC conference tournament champion who did not also have the best regular season record, never made the Final Four...much less win the national title.

If the goal is to go farther in the NCAA tournament or potentially be the national champion, then the regular season performance is more important than the conference tournament.